Construction conveying system and components therefor

ABSTRACT

A scaffold, a conveyor mounted thereon, a supply station and vertically adjustable mounting brackets supporting the conveyor. One of these brackets also supports one end of the supply station positioned at one end of the conveyor, the conveyor having a railing and being tiltable to force the conveyed material to bear on the railing.

United States Patent [1 1 Donker et a1.

CONSTRUCTION CONVEYING SYSTEM AND COMPONENTS THEREFOR Inventors: HarveyD. Donker, 7373 Kraft Avenue, Caledonia, Mich. 49612; Warren ,1. Kuiper,1311 Richwood Drive, S.E., Grand Rapids, Mich. 4,9506

Filed: Feb. 12, 1971 Appl. No.: 115,043

Related U.S. Application Data Continuation of Ser. No. 805,683, March10, 1969,

abandoned.

u.s. C1. ..l82/l29, 193/35, 248/235 Int. Cl .,.....E04 1/15 Field ofSearch ..1s2 129, 17s; 193/35; 248/235 51 Feb. 20, 1973 [56] ReferencesCited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,548,970 12/1970 Hutchen, Sr. ..182/1292,740,513 4/1956 Sullivan ..193/35 3,305,075 2/1967 Johnson ..193/35 X1,393,932 10/1921 Andre ..182/l46 X Primary Examiner-Kenneth DowneyAttorneyPrice, Heneveld, Huizenga & Cooper [5 7 ABSTRACT A scaffold, aconveyor mounted thereon, a supply station and vertically adjustablemounting brackets supporting the conveyor. One of these brackets alsosupports one end of the supply station positioned at one end of theconveyor, the conveyor having a railing and being tiltable to force theconveyed material to bear on the railing.

7 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTED EBZ 3,717. 22 0 SHEET 1 OF 2 FIG. 3

INVENTORS FIG. 2 HARVEY D. DDNKER WARREN J. KUIPER PM W,

/W, t G m-PA ATTORNEYS PATENTEDFEBZOIQB 3.717. 220

INVENTORS HARVEY DQDONKER WARREN J. KUIPER ATTORNEYS CONSTRUCTIONCONVEYING SYSTEM AND COMPONENTS THEREFOR I This is a continuation of US.Pat. application Ser. No. 805,683, filed Mar. 10, 1969, and nowabandoned.

I BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION For years in the construction art it hasbeen customary to pass out bricks and other material to workers on ascaffold individually by hand, the material having been lifted to thescaffold initially by crane, forklift or by other techniques. Thisseparate servicing of each position along the scaffold is inefficientand time consuming, particularly in view of the fact that each such userof the building materials has to make his desires and needs known eachtime he runs out of material. The problem is especially acute forworkmen on upper stories inasmuch as the worker distributing thematerial by hand or by wheelbarrow from a central conveyor must walk theentire circumference of the building toreach every point of thescaffold.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a combination of amechanical conveyor with a scaffold and the means for mounting theconveyor on the scaffold. Specifically, the invention provides thecombination of a scaffold, a conveyor, and means mounted on the scaffoldfor supporting the conveyor, the conveyor including means for operatingit either by gravity or by electric power. The

supporting means can be either of two types of which includes means forsupporting a platform below the conveyor. Means are also included fordelivering the conveyed material along a predetermined path, said meansincluding means for tilting the conveyor.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to con- 7 tinuously supplybuilding materials along the outer edge of a scaffold.

It is a further object of the invention to provide materials in theabovenamed fashion by the use of a conveyor mounted on the scafiold.

vIt is still a further object of the invention to provide a verticallyadjustable mounting of a conveyor on a scaffold.

It is a related object of the invention to provide a scaffold conveyorof the above character which accurately delivers building material fromone central supply point. I

Other objects and advantages'of the invention will become apparent uponreference to the following drawings and detailed discussion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a fragmentary perspectiveview of aconveyor mounted on a scaffold in accordance with theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along- FIG. 6 is afragmentary front elevational section taken generally along the planeVI-Vl of FlG. l and illustrating only the supply station bracket.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT This invention maybe utilized toprovide a conveyor on a scaffold for any purpose whatsoever, one ofwhich is the supplying of building materials along the outside of aconstruction scaffold so that the building materials need not bedelivered individually to the workers on the scaffold. It is this usewhich is illustrated hereinafter, but other uses such as in painting abuilding wherein buckets of paints are supplied by the conveyor areequally feasible and will be obvious to one skilled in the use ofscaflolds.

In FIG. 1, a conventional scaffold 10 is formed by uprights 12 and 13,cross bars 14, and braces 16, the uprights 13 being adjacent to theconstruction site itself. A wooden platform 18 (FIG. 6 only) within thescaffold 10 supports the workers, such platforms being easily placedacross cross bars such as cross bars 14.

In accordance with the invention, a conveyor 20 is mounted along theoutside of the scaffold by attaching special support brackets 30 and tothe uprights 12. The conveyor consists of conventional rollers 22mounted in a frame 24, sectioned and joined at 27 where they aresupported, which rollers are here illustrated as being free wheeling sothat materials are delivered by the influence of gravity. However, thesystemworks equally well by a power driven conveyor actuated by aconventional electric motor 25. That the operation of the conveyorillustrated in FIG. 1 is by gravity is indicated in FIG. 3, whereinthe-top edge 26 of the frame 24 as well as the top surface 28 of thebottom flange of the frame are in view, due to the fact that theconveyor is not perfectly horizontal but is tilted so that what'isillustrated as the far end in FIG.'3 is higher than the front end shownin FIG. 3. The tilting of the overall conveyor out of a horizontal planeis accomplished by vertically adjusting the special brackets 30 and 70as hereinafter described.

To allow the building materials to be delivered to a central supplystation, one of the aforementioned brackets, a bracket 30, is mountedupon the scaffold at the high end 32 of the conveyor. Because itsupports the supply station, it is wider than the conveyor. The bracketincludes an upright channel 34 and three vhorizontal cross channels 36,38 and 40, the latter of which supports a conventional platform 42,which can be made from planks of lumber. The channel 40 includes at theend adjacent the channel 34 a .l-shaped section 44 which-fits around theinside of the upright 12 of the scaffold, preferably right above a crossbar 14. The other end of the channel 40 along with the ends of the othertwo horizontal channels 36 and 38 are welded to a side channel 48 whichis bent in the middle to form i an angle between and 135, preferablyabout The bottom end 50 of the channel 48 supports the bot- I tom end ofthe channel 34 and has welded thereto a U- shaped sleeve segment 52 withslips around the outside of the upright 12 of the scaffold. Toadjustably support the conveyor within the bracket 30, a vertical pipe56 is welded approximately to the center of the horizontal channels 36and 38 and is provided with a hole therein over which is welded a nut 58to be used in the locking of the conveyor bracket in place.

To complete the support of the platform 42, a conventional bracket 60(FIG. 4) is mounted also on the uprights l2 at'the end of the platform42 opposite to the end supported by the bracket 32. The platform 42 isthus used as a supply station to receive a large quantity of buildingmaterials, such as concrete blocks 62 or bricks 64, and it also servesto support a worker who initiates the conveying of the materials fromthat supply station as the need arises. The building materials can besupplied to the platform 42 by any conventional means such as a forkliftor elevator.

To support the remainder of the conveyor at progressively lower heightsalong the scaffold 10, special brackets 70 are provided, again formounting on the uprights 12. To grip the inside of the uprights 12, ahorizontal arm 72 is welded to the body 74 of the bracket and isprovided with a ,l-shaped section 76 which grips the upright preferablyimmediately above a cross bar 14. To complete the support of the bracket70, a bar 78 depends downwardly from the body 74 and terminates in aU-shaped sleeve segment 80 which rests on the outside of the uprights12. To reinforce the bar 78, the arm 72, and the body 74, a bent bar 82is welded to those three members. To accommodate the conveyor in anadjustable fashion, a pipe 84 is welded to the body 74 and is providedwith a hole and a nut 86 welded thereto in a fashion similar to thedesign of the pipe 56.

The conveyor supports comprise a vertical arm 88 which slips into thepipe 84, the arm having welded to the top thereof a platform 90. Toguide a conveyor into position on the platform,the latter has at itsends vertical guide flanges 92. To lock the arm 88 in the desiredvertical position, a handle 94 is threaded toscrew into the nut 86, asimilar handle 95 being utilized on the pipe 56 (FIG. 6). Thus, the arm88 may be fixed at the desired height within the pipe 84 by tighteningthe han-,

dle 94.-It will be readily apparent that the same conveyor supportconsisting of an arm 88 and a platform 90 is utilized with thebracket30, the arm 88 being inserted into the pipe 56 and locked at thedesired height with the handle 95. When used with a gravity conveyor, itwill be readily apparent that the platforms 90 are adjusted so that theone which is the highest is the one mounted in the bracket 30, while theothers are progressively lowered within the brackets 70 as thosebrackets are further removed from the bracket 30.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, to insure that thebuilding materials such as the bricks 64 are delivered along apredetermined path so as to not fall ofi the conveyor, a railing 96 ismounted along the entire length of the conveyor by means of bars 98shaped in the form of a J. The short end of the .l is welded to therailing 96 (FIG. 3) while the long end extends underneath the rollers 22within the con-veyor 20 in a channel 100, the channel being providedwith a hole over which is welded a nut 102. To lock the bar 98 into thedesired position for the railing 96, a handle 104 is threaded so as toscrew into the nut 102 and to engage the longer end of the bar 98. Bythese means, the horizontal position of the railing 96 can be adjusted.To insure that the conveyed material guides along the railing 96, theconveyor 20 can be tilted along its longitudinalaxis so that the sideunder the railing 96 is lower than the opposite side. That may beaccomplished by using any one of a number of equivalent methods, one

of which is to bolt a wedge l 1,0 to the platform 90 along the sideopposite to the side which is under the railing 96 and the bars 98 (FIG.5). By these means, gravity will insure that the conveyed materials doguide along the railing 96.

While the invention has been described in connection with a preferredembodiment, it will be understood that it is not intended to limit theinvention to that described. On the contrary, it is intended to coverall alternatives, modifications and equivalents as may be includedwithin the spirit and scope of the invention as.

defined by the following claims.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclu sive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows.

1. On a building or maintenance scaffolding adapted for positioningalongside a building or, building site, the scaffolding supporting atleast one elongated working area'at a position spaced vertically from asurface supporting said scaffolding and permitting workers standing andmoving thereon to have access to desired locations for building ormaintenance purposes, the improvement comprising elongated mechanicalconveying means having a continuous article support and conveyingsurface positioned along and supported from said scaffolding, saidconveying means being supported from said scaffolding by a plurality ofspaced support members, said support members also supporting a.

supply station, said conveying means being verticallyadjustablysupported on said support members such that said conveyingmeans is vertically adjustable. with respect to and independent of saidposition of all of said working areas and said supply station, saidmembers being fixed to said scaffolding on the side of said scaffoldingopposite from said scaffolding opposite from said building or buildingsite, said members supporting said elongated conveying means and itsconveying surface to the side of said working area opposite from saidbuilding or site permitting workers to freely stand on and move alongsaid area between said building or site and said conveying meanswithoutinterference from or with said conveying means, said conveyingmeans being accessible. to said workers on one side of said area so thatthey can remove articles being conveyed therealong, said building orsite being accessible to said workers on the other side of said area sothat they can use the articles on the building vor site for building ormaintenance purposes; said supply station also being on said sideopposite said building whereby building supplies and the like may beloaded thereon without interference from said scaffolding, conveyingmeans, or working areas.

2. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein said conveyor meansis gravity operated.

3. The combination as set forth in claim 2 wherein said support memberscomprise brackets having adjustable vertical arms, said conveyor meansbeing supported upon and extending between said arms, said bracketsbeing mounted on said scaffolding whereby, by the adjustment of saidarms within said brackets, the angle of said conveying means withrespect to said surface supporting said scaffolding along the length ofsaid scaffolding can be adjusted, said adjustment allowing one end ofsaid conveyor to be positioned higher than the other.

4. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein said conveying meansfurther comprises a railing adjustably fixed to one side of saidconveyor means, and means for tilting said conveyor means so that theside of said conveyor means mounting said railing is lower than theother side thereof whereby the articles conveyed along said conveyingmeans bear upon said railmg.

5. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein said support membersare removably fixed to said scaffolding.

6. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein said support membersare affixed to said scaffolding in outrigger-like fashion. I V

7. The combination of a scaffold, a mechanical conveyor, means mountedon said scaffold for supporting said conveyor; said conveyor having ahigh end and a low end along the length of said scaffold; and a supplystation at one end of said conveyor; said scaffold including a workingarea, said station including a bracket positioned at the high end ofsaid conveyor; said bracket having a pipe for accommodating anadjustable vertical arm, means for locking said arm to said pipe, andmeans for supporting a supply platform below said vertical arm; saidbracket having a width exceeding the width of said conveyor forsupporting said supply platform, said bracket being verticallyadjustable with respect to said working area, said arm verticallyadjustably supporting a portion of said conveyor, said conveyor beingvertically adjustable independent of both said working area and saidsupply station.

* t t t t

1. On a building or maintenance scaffolding adapted for positioningalongside a building or building site, the scaffolding supporting atleast one elongated working area at a position spaced vertically from asurface supporting said scaffolding and permitting workers standing andmoving thereon to have access to desired locations for building ormaintenance purposes, the improvEment comprising elongated mechanicalconveying means having a continuous article support and conveyingsurface positioned along and supported from said scaffolding, saidconveying means being supported from said scaffolding by a plurality ofspaced support members, said support members also supporting a supplystation, said conveying means being vertically adjustably supported onsaid support members such that said conveying means is verticallyadjustable with respect to and independent of said position of all ofsaid working areas and said supply station, said members being fixed tosaid scaffolding on the side of said scaffolding opposite from saidscaffolding opposite from said building or building site, said memberssupporting said elongated conveying means and its conveying surface tothe side of said working area opposite from said building or sitepermitting workers to freely stand on and move along said area betweensaid building or site and said conveying means without interference fromor with said conveying means, said conveying means being accessible tosaid workers on one side of said area so that they can remove articlesbeing conveyed therealong, said building or site being accessible tosaid workers on the other side of said area so that they can use thearticles on the building or site for building or maintenance purposes;said supply station also being on said side opposite said buildingwhereby building supplies and the like may be loaded thereon withoutinterference from said scaffolding, conveying means, or workingareas.
 1. On a building or maintenance scaffolding adapted forpositioning alongside a building or building site, the scaffoldingsupporting at least one elongated working area at a position spacedvertically from a surface supporting said scaffolding and permittingworkers standing and moving thereon to have access to desired locationsfor building or maintenance purposes, the improvEment comprisingelongated mechanical conveying means having a continuous article supportand conveying surface positioned along and supported from saidscaffolding, said conveying means being supported from said scaffoldingby a plurality of spaced support members, said support members alsosupporting a supply station, said conveying means being verticallyadjustably supported on said support members such that said conveyingmeans is vertically adjustable with respect to and independent of saidposition of all of said working areas and said supply station, saidmembers being fixed to said scaffolding on the side of said scaffoldingopposite from said scaffolding opposite from said building or buildingsite, said members supporting said elongated conveying means and itsconveying surface to the side of said working area opposite from saidbuilding or site permitting workers to freely stand on and move alongsaid area between said building or site and said conveying means withoutinterference from or with said conveying means, said conveying meansbeing accessible to said workers on one side of said area so that theycan remove articles being conveyed therealong, said building or sitebeing accessible to said workers on the other side of said area so thatthey can use the articles on the building or site for building ormaintenance purposes; said supply station also being on said sideopposite said building whereby building supplies and the like may beloaded thereon without interference from said scaffolding, conveyingmeans, or working areas.
 2. The combination as set forth in claim 1wherein said conveyor means is gravity operated.
 3. The combination asset forth in claim 2 wherein said support members comprise bracketshaving adjustable vertical arms, said conveyor means being supportedupon and extending between said arms, said brackets being mounted onsaid scaffolding whereby, by the adjustment of said arms within saidbrackets, the angle of said conveying means with respect to said surfacesupporting said scaffolding along the length of said scaffolding can beadjusted, said adjustment allowing one end of said conveyor to bepositioned higher than the other.
 4. The combination as set forth inclaim 1 wherein said conveying means further comprises a railingadjustably fixed to one side of said conveyor means, and means fortilting said conveyor means so that the side of said conveyor meansmounting said railing is lower than the other side thereof whereby thearticles conveyed along said conveying means bear upon said railing. 5.The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein said support members areremovably fixed to said scaffolding.
 6. The combination as set forth inclaim 1 wherein said support members are affixed to said scaffolding inoutrigger-like fashion.